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Wounded warrior shares inspirational message

Melissa Stockwell, U.S. Army veteran, who lost her left leg in Iraq in 2004, speaks at Blue Ridge Community Health Services.

Patrick Sullivan/Times-News

By Jessica GoodmanTimes-News Staff Writer

Published: Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 11:43 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 11:43 p.m.

Melissa Stockwell, a U.S. Army veteran, reached down and unhooked her leg during a Thursday presentation for the Philanthropic Educational Organization, Chapter AN, meeting at Blue Ridge Community Health Services.

"I'm an extremely proud American," said Stockwell, 31. "And I'm an extremely proud to be an above-the-knee amputee."

Stockwell was the first woman to lose a limb in Iraq, losing her leg to a roadside bomb in 2004, and has turned the experience into a teaching moment. She uses her story to inspire others.

Stockwell is on the Board of Directors for the Wounded Warriors Project, which helps service members with injuries connected to their service. The program helped her after she sustained her injuries in Iraq. Stockwell is a recipient of the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.

"I always wanted to be in the military," Stockwell said. "I wanted to be in the Army."

She joined the ROTC at the University of Colorado her sophomore year and was a senior in college when Sept. 11 happened.

"Our lives were going to be changed forever," Stockwell said.

She attended Transportation Officer Basic Corps in Virginia before being assigned to the First Cavalry division at Ft. Hood, Texas. She was deployed in March 2004 to Iraq.

On April 13, 2004, she was riding in a convoy to Baghdad and was sitting behind the driver. The convoy went under an underpass and hit a roadside bomb. She said she looked up and saw the windshield was cracked and the vehicle spun around, hitting a guardrail before crashing into an Iraqi woman's house. When Stockwell went to get out of the vehicle, she noticed the blood on her leg.

"I didn't know at the time, but my leg was actually gone," Stockwell said. She thought at first it was just a bad break. She was rushed to the nearest medical aid site and then flown to an American hospital in Iraq. It wasn't until she was flown to Germany that she was told she had lost her leg. She was 24 years old.

"I just remember knowing I was going to be OK," Stockwell said. "I was glad it wasn't one of my other soldiers."

Stockwell spent a year at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and was fitted with a titanium prosthetic that weighs 9 pounds. She said when she looked around the ward she was in, there were others missing two limbs, three limbs or more.

"I've nothing to complain about," Stockwell said. "I considered myself one of the lucky ones."

After her time at Walter Reed, she moved to Minnesota to start a new career fitting people for prosthetics. She also decided to get back into athletics, and part of that dream was joining the U.S. Paralympic Team Swimming Trials for the games in Beijing, China in 2008.

"I knew I wasn't going to be myself again until I got back into athletics," Stockwell said.

In April 2008, she posted a fast enough time to make the team.

"Sounds cheesy, but that day my dream actually came true," she said.

Stockwell did not win during the games, but learned that the journey was just as important as the destination. Her team also voted for her to carry the American flag during the closing ceremonies.

From there, she decided to participate in the Paratriathlon World Championships. In 2010, she crossed the line first in Budapest, Hungary on Sept. 11, 2010 and received a gold medal. She defended her title in 2011 at the championships in Beijing.

"I just live for crossing that finish line or hitting that wall in a pool and feeling accomplished," she said.

Stockwell is the granddaughter of late PEO member Kathryne Hoffman, who lived in Hendersonville.

Stockwell works as a practitioner for Scheck and Siress Prosthetics in Chicago. She formed a charity with friends called dare2tri Paratriathlon (www.dare2trichicago.com) club, which gets disabled athletes in Chicago involved in a triathlon. She also travels as a motivational speaker.

She said she doesn't have plans to write a book, yet.

"I feel like I still have a lot of life to live before I put it all down," she said.

<p>Melissa Stockwell, a U.S. Army veteran, reached down and unhooked her leg during a Thursday presentation for the Philanthropic Educational Organization, Chapter AN, meeting at Blue Ridge Community Health Services.</p><p>"I'm an extremely proud American," said Stockwell, 31. "And I'm an extremely proud to be an above-the-knee amputee."</p><p>Stockwell was the first woman to lose a limb in Iraq, losing her leg to a roadside bomb in 2004, and has turned the experience into a teaching moment. She uses her story to inspire others.</p><p>Stockwell is on the Board of Directors for the Wounded Warriors Project, which helps service members with injuries connected to their service. The program helped her after she sustained her injuries in Iraq. Stockwell is a recipient of the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.</p><p>"I always wanted to be in the military," Stockwell said. "I wanted to be in the Army."</p><p>She joined the ROTC at the University of Colorado her sophomore year and was a senior in college when Sept. 11 happened.</p><p>"Our lives were going to be changed forever," Stockwell said.</p><p>She attended Transportation Officer Basic Corps in Virginia before being assigned to the First Cavalry division at Ft. Hood, Texas. She was deployed in March 2004 to Iraq.</p><p>On April 13, 2004, she was riding in a convoy to Baghdad and was sitting behind the driver. The convoy went under an underpass and hit a roadside bomb. She said she looked up and saw the windshield was cracked and the vehicle spun around, hitting a guardrail before crashing into an Iraqi woman's house. When Stockwell went to get out of the vehicle, she noticed the blood on her leg.</p><p>"I didn't know at the time, but my leg was actually gone," Stockwell said. She thought at first it was just a bad break. She was rushed to the nearest medical aid site and then flown to an American hospital in Iraq. It wasn't until she was flown to Germany that she was told she had lost her leg. She was 24 years old.</p><p>"I just remember knowing I was going to be OK," Stockwell said. "I was glad it wasn't one of my other soldiers."</p><p>Stockwell spent a year at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and was fitted with a titanium prosthetic that weighs 9 pounds. She said when she looked around the ward she was in, there were others missing two limbs, three limbs or more.</p><p>"I've nothing to complain about," Stockwell said. "I considered myself one of the lucky ones."</p><p>After her time at Walter Reed, she moved to Minnesota to start a new career fitting people for prosthetics. She also decided to get back into athletics, and part of that dream was joining the U.S. Paralympic Team Swimming Trials for the games in Beijing, China in 2008.</p><p>"I knew I wasn't going to be myself again until I got back into athletics," Stockwell said.</p><p>In April 2008, she posted a fast enough time to make the team.</p><p>"Sounds cheesy, but that day my dream actually came true," she said.</p><p>Stockwell did not win during the games, but learned that the journey was just as important as the destination. Her team also voted for her to carry the American flag during the closing ceremonies.</p><p>From there, she decided to participate in the Paratriathlon World Championships. In 2010, she crossed the line first in Budapest, Hungary on Sept. 11, 2010 and received a gold medal. She defended her title in 2011 at the championships in Beijing.</p><p>"I just live for crossing that finish line or hitting that wall in a pool and feeling accomplished," she said.</p><p>Stockwell is the granddaughter of late PEO member Kathryne Hoffman, who lived in Hendersonville.</p><p>Stockwell works as a practitioner for Scheck and Siress Prosthetics in Chicago. She formed a charity with friends called dare2tri Paratriathlon (www.dare2trichicago.com) club, which gets disabled athletes in Chicago involved in a triathlon. She also travels as a motivational speaker.</p><p>She said she doesn't have plans to write a book, yet.</p><p>"I feel like I still have a lot of life to live before I put it all down," she said.</p><p>Reach Goodman at 828-694-7867 or jessica.goodman@blueridgenow.com.</p>